I Can't Help But Fall
by claireoflune
Summary: Annabeth Chase dreams of the day she can escape her small town. Her dreams; however, are being threatened by no other than Percy Jackson. Annabeth is determined to become valedictorian once again by any means necessary. Even if it takes one broken heart. AU. All humans.
1. Oh No!

**A/N Hello guys! I know I haven't written and or updated in forever, but here I am. I know I usually write pretty disturbing and dark things BUT I decided to change things up and write a fluffier piece of literature. It's a first for me, but I hope you all enjoy the first chapter. I'm SUPER excited about this and ughhh I just wanna write all the chaps, but it's finals season. Sigh. Well moving on, I present you the story.**

 **The song is called Oh No! by Marina and the Diamonds**

 **Disclaimer: I'm not Rick Riordan; therefore, I do not own the PJO OR HoO series.**

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Annabeth's POV

 _I know exactly why I walk and talk like a machine_

Waking up early in the morning always sucks no matter the occasion. I may seem like the type of person that wakes up early with a smile on her face, but let me assure you that is far from the truth. I have to put at least three different alarms in order to wake up. I usually have to wake up about an hour or two in order to get ready. My mother always says that presentation is the key to success.

Over the years I've come up with many tricks in order to take as less time as possible to get ready. At night, I braid my curly hair into twin French braids, so in the morning I don't have to brush it or straighten it. I usually wear a bit of BB cream, mascara, and gloss. My usual outfit consists of a plaid skirt, button up shirt, and heels. One may say that I'm preppy and I would agree.

I released my braids and softly ran coconut oil through my hair. I stared at myself for a while before my father's voice jolted me out of my mind. "Hi dad!" I said and kissed his cheek."

"Oh there is my little valedictorian. I made pancakes just for you." He leaned into my ear and whispered, "Don't tell your brothers."

I laughed at him and answered, "Cross my heart and hope to die." I chatted with my dad for a bit before leaving. I drove to the high school, which wasn't very far away. I stepped out of the car and made my way to the counselor's office.

I was nervous about my meeting, but I really shouldn't be.I am the smartest girl that has ever walked the hallways of Goode High. Or male for that matter. I don't think that by saying this I sound conceited. I am just stating a fact. Annabeth Chase is the smartest person in Goode High. A simple statement. I am not being conceited if it's true. I smiled inwardly at the thought. Explaining things to myself was something I often did; I like to think all people do that. Maybe there are two Annabeth's inside of me. One was the humble girl that was proud of her achievements without being too prideful, but the my other self is just begging for attention and recognition. The latter one tends to win most if not all the time; however I often have some petty inward battles.

I always seem to walk with a sort of haughtiness in my step. My mother taught me at a young age to always walk with my chin raised high and my back straight. Athena, my mother, was certainly a very interesting character. She had so much class and power I always looked up to her. I wouldn't say I wanted to walk in her footsteps per se, but I did want to make her proud.

I stared out the window and noticed that the sky still looked a bit dark. Although high school had barely started, I felt it was my duty as a senior to know everything from my GPA to my class ranking. I was pretty darn sure I was valedictorian, but it's always best to be safe than sorry.

The counselor arrived about 15 minutes late, which I frowned upon. She looked at me completely tired and carrying about two bags. "Sorry I'm late," she apologized, "I went to pick up some donuts on the way here." I nodded while inspecting the Dunkin Donuts logo. A passing student offered for help, but she waved him off.

Mrs. Olympian, yeah that's her real last name, dropped to the ground in search for her key. All the while I had a pleasant smile upon my face, but inwardly I was screaming. There were about ten minutes left until the bell rang which meant I would either be late to my next class or she would spend zero time with me. Both options seemed equally bad. This is exactly why people had to arrive on time to everything.

The counselor finally opened the door and pointed at a seat for me to seat. "Annabeth Chase, correct?" Olympian inquired. I only nodded in response. I heard her shuffling around with some papers, she then proceeded to scream out a victorious, "Aha!" before returning back to where I was.

She took a seat next to me and started examining to what I must assume was my transcript. She took out another paper and started filling up the classes I was taking. Then a loud, "BRIIIING!" interrupted my thoughts. "I'll write you a pass," Mrs. Olympian answered in response to the bell.

I started to get a bit nervous about the reason she was taking so long. I knew I was being ridiculous, but I couldn't slow down my heart. She finally looked at me with an award winning smile. Mrs. Olympian, or Aphrodite as she liked us to call her, was a truly beautiful women. I could easily picture her as a Victoria's Secret model or even an actress. Yet here she was, in the middle of nowhere like the rest of us less attractive people.

"Well Annabeth you have a perfect GPA, which I'm sure you already knew," Aphrodite smiled again and looked down to her paper, "You are going to graduate with distinguished honors," A smile spread across my face, since I really had nothing to worry about. And then, Aphrodite revealed the news that shattered my world, "As of now, your rank is number two."

What? There was no way I could be number two. I was smarter than any other person in this whole high school. I made a chocking sound in my throat, so I cleared my throat and managed to say, "Huh?" Not very eloquent, but I couldn't believe this. In my mind millions of moments passed where I was studying my butt off and all of that hard work was basically for nothing.

"Yes," Aphrodite said widening her sky blue eyes, "That's a good thing honey."

I stood up so fast I scared Mrs. Olympian, "No!" I said quite loudly. "There must be a sort of mistake. I can't possibly be salutatorian. You don't understand! I was going to be the fifth generation to graduate as the top student in my family. Oh no!"

Mrs. Olympian grabbed my shoulders to stop me from pacing; something I didn't realize I was doing. "Sweetheart, I'm sure your parents will be proud no matter what."

I removed myself from her grasp, "Boo-hoo, who cares? No. This is about how disappointed I will be. Oh God, I'm a failure. Don't you see what this means? I'm going to stay here forever and ever and be some sort of housewife with ten kids." I was panicking by this point. Was I overreacting just a tiny bit? Possibly, but I didn't care.

"It's going to be fine Annabeth."

"You're right!" I screamed elated. The only thing I had to do was get better grades than my competition.

"I'm afraid not," Aphrodite answered me. I probably spoke aloud. "The only way you can possibly go up is if the student starts getting lower grades."

"But, how?" I asked and sat back down on my seat. "What does this person have that I don't?"

"A lot of extracurricular activities. We count everything you do and well as impressive as your grades are Annabeth, you are not in any sort of club," Aphrodite explained gently.

Defeated the only thing I could ask was, "Who is this person?"

Aphrodite bit her lip and answered, "Can't say, it's confidential."

I left the room with a heavy heart.

Throughout the day I was lost in my personal misery cloud. I rarely went up there, since it was so sad. But I had nowhere else to go. I replayed the painful meeting over and over until my head started to ache. I took out an Ibuprofen and swallowed the pill. I started carrying pain medicine back when my migraines started in freshman year. This particular headache, though, refused to leave me.

By the time I got to lunch I was completely mentally exhausted. I waited in the long line and smiled forcibly at the lunch lady while she served me the disgusting school lunch. I made my way towards the round table my friends and I usually sat on. As of now, my table was empty so I took the opportunity to look around the cafeteria.

My school was not necessarily separated by a stereotypical groups. Everyone was grouped by a similar interest, but not everyone was exactly the same. I usually sat with my punk looking best friend aka Thalia Grace. Thalia liked Green Day, archery, and food. She was also incredibly smart which is how I met her in the first page. We were both a bunch of awkward pre-teens when we met in our Math GT class. After a few days as friends, we discovered we both hated everyone in school and became best friends. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

I waited for her to come and sit down, so that I could rant my little heart out about the unfairness of it all. She would listen, maybe tell me to chill, and offer a solution. Thalia was the best about giving advice. Instead of Thalia arriving at our table, it was Piper McLean and Jason Grace. I sighed loudly while starring at the lovely dovey couple in front of me. I didn't have any problems with them, but damn it was annoying how cute they were together.

"Annabeth!" Piper yelled at me with enthusiasm even though she was right in front of me. "I'm going to be the president of the celibacy club and we're looking for new members." I smirked and looked towards Jason. He was staring at his food. But his frown was quite evident. Piper was a really badass person and the type that wanted nothing to do with conservative ideas, so I was quite surprised.

"Celibacy club, huh?" I asked.

Piper dropped the girly girl act and threw her hands up in frustration. "My mom made me do it!" Oh yes, I guess I forgot that the beautiful Aphrodite was Piper's dear mother. Aphrodite wanted Piper to be like her, meaning that she wanted Piper to be a cheerleader, homecoming queen, and all of that jazz. However, Piper was a free spirit and the only word that could possibly describe her would be bohemian.

"Oh thank the Lord!" Jason said relieved. Piper then proceeded to smack his head. "I thought it was a way to punish me for hanging out with Reyna."

"It wasn't, but thanks for reminding me," Piper said while glaring at Jason. I managed to stifle a laughter at Jason's horrified face. Ah Jason, always acting stupid. "Anyways, I was serious about you joining. I don't want to be alone with all of those pretend virgins."

"Who's a fake virgin?" Thalia asked while taking a seat next to me after slapping the back of Jason's face affectionately.

"Everyone," I answered for Piper. "And no Piper. Why would I want to spend an hour of my life with people?" I faked shuddered to make a point.

"Come on," Piper said making cute puppy eyes. "Be a nice person."

"I don't know Piper. I was thinking of getting a job." Next to me Thalia snorted. "What?"

"I'm sorry Annabeth, but you? Working? That's laughable."

Piper interrupted her, "It's going to be fun I swear! We would be doing the exact opposite of what a celibacy club does."

"Piper," I gasped, "You mean you will expose my innocent soul to the evilness of sex?"

"Oh shut up Annabeth," Piper said and threw me a pear.

"Yeah ok fine. But now I really need to talk to Thalia." I turned my attention to my best friend and Piper started talking with Jason again. I looked at her and told her what happened in my meeting with the counselor and of course I added minor things to make my story more dramatic. "And now I have no idea who number one is!"

"Well we can always ask around the school." Thalia suggested rationally, but I was having none of that.

"Thalia we can't! Everyone is expecting me to be valedictorian. It's going to be super embarrassing informing them that I am not it!" High school was just too complicated for my taste.

"Percy," Jason simply said. I waited for him to continue whatever he was going to say. But he made no move to explain myself.

I rolled my eyes at him and continued assaulting Thalia with questions, "Do you think it's Reyna? Gosh it's probably her. Oh that girl! It's because she's Puerto Rican ugh why can't I be a multicultural person?"

Jason decided to butt in and say, "No, it's Percy."

"Ok," I said, "You obviously want to share something about that guy, but can you hold off for a second? I'm trying to figure out who the hell is beating me!"

"You don't get it," Jason said softly, "Percy Jackson is the one beating you."

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 **A/N hurray if you made it this far! Anyways I hope to write at least 2k per chapter and hopefully more. Yes, i know there was no Percy Jackson in this chapter, but he will appear in the second one, I swear! Also, Percy is pretty smart in this story and well you shall see in chapter two. If you liked this chapter, please like, follow, and review. Have an awesome day guys!**

 **Next on I Can't Help But Fall:** Well, I didn't think I was your type blondie.


	2. Jealous Girl

**A/N Well hey guyssss. I'm super excited for this story and i really hope y'all enjoying it. :) And yes I'm going to start each chapter with song lyrics i think fit the overall theme. Btw this song is called Jealous Girl and it's by Lana Del Rey. Its p good. Also, make sure to read the author's note at the bottom. Thanks.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO**

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Annabeth's POV

 _You say you got your own life; good for you_

 _You got more important things to do_

I forced out a laughter at what Jason had said because it sure sounded he said that Percy Jackson was the one beating me and of course that's not truth. It couldn't be, right? I stopped my hysterical laughter because my friends were staring at me. Jason looked confused, like always, Thalia looked pretty shocked, and Piper was staring at me with pity clear in her eyes. I hardened my expression at her look. I didn't need to be pitied.

"You know," Jason started, "Percy is a pretty smart guy."

I had nothing personal against,not anymore at least, Percy, but I couldn't comprehend how the hell he had gotten ahead and when exactly he got so ahead. I mean, he was the same guy that was always doodling in class and being sarcastic to teachers. "Are you sure?" I asked, not wanting to believe it.

Jason nodded in response. "Yeah, he came running before basketball practice and just yelled out the good news. He was super stocked."

Well of course he was, who wouldn't be? "Huh," Thalia mused, "Who knew my cousin was so smart?" I guess, I also forgot to mention that Percy and Thalia are related, but it really isn't that much of a surprise. They both had dark hair and strong personalities. They also had a love-hate relationship kind of thing. I thought it was because they were so alike; it's impossible for them not to argue over the simplest things.

"Yo, Percy!" Jason screamed without preamble and holy hell what the heck was wrong with Jason? Why on earth would he invite Percy over when we were just discussing his rank? Ugh this teenager was certainly dropped as a baby… multiple times.

A confused Percy Jackson walked towards us and I would be lying if I said I wasn't the least attracted to him. It was quite impossible not to feel something towards him whether it was jealousy or admiration. He had the greenest eyes I had ever seen; they were so much like the sea: dark and threatening one second, and the next playful and comely. I shook my head to clear those wondering thoughts so by the time Percy reached our table, I was completely unfazed by him. He patted Jason's shoulder as a way of greeting.

"So Percy," Jason said, "Annabeth wanted to know if you-"

I kicked Jason in the leg before he could finish his sentence. I knew Percy was going to ask what my rank was in return and I did not want that. It was one thing telling my friends my shameful rank and a completely different thing him knowing I was being beaten by him. I just couldn't allow that, but for some unfathomable reason Jason wouldn't stop talking, "Oh, don't be shy Annabeth."

By this point I was willing to strangle the blond boy. I could just visualize myself in a bright, orange suit for the rest of the time for murdering Jason. I counted to ten mentally in my head to try to remain calm and not commit a federal crime, "Jason," I whispered to him with a threatening smile, "what are you doing?"

"I was just telling Percy that you want to ask him-,"

This time I was not the one that stopped him, but I sure did wish I was. "On a date!" Piper screamed. Oh sweet, kind Piper was definitely going to die a very violent death today. I bet she thought she was helping, she always thought she was helping, but this did not help me at all. At all!

Percy's eyebrow shot up in surprised. "Well I didn't think I was your type blondie." Percy said cockily. The only downside to Percy? He was so confident in himself I just wanted to slap his pretty smile off.

I answered his stupid question with an incoherent answer. Thankfully Thalia took over for me. "Of course you are Perce! Annabeth draws little hearts around your name all the time. It's really adorable. She loves smart guys and you're pretty smart, right?"

Percy probably figured he was going to stay a while, so he took a chair and sat right next to me. Like so close that if I faced him, I would be touching his forehead. I took a deep breath in order to calm down and figure out a solution, but when I took that deep breath, I learned two things. The first one was that Percy smelled like the ocean and the second thing is that I really enjoyed that smell.

"I guess I am," Percy answered.

I laughed to try to play off what everyone had said. Unfortunately it sounded more like a dying whale. "Ha ha ha," I tried again. "These guys," I said while pointing accusingly at my friends, "are just kidding."

"Oh?" he questioned me.

"Yeah! Piper is just trying to get you to join the celibacy club!" I exclaimed. "She probably thought you would want to join if I said I liked you because I'm joining too." The story was so far-fetched I just hoped he would play along for my sake. He did. "Before you came along, I was going to tell Piper that she would have better luck if she told you that Rachel is joining!" I finally finished my lame excuse. I seriously needed to work on my cover stories.

Percy, however, became a mumbling mess once I mentioned the redhead's name. I rolled my eyes at the way he started acting. This is exactly why I had no tolerance for unimportant high school things like crushes. "Wh-why Rachel?"

"Because you like her," I stated.

He didn't try to deny. Instead he turned towards Piper and asked, "When are the meetings?" We all chuckled at his eagerness to be closer to his crush. Everything turned out fine. I wasn't mortified or anything, so why did my heart ache?

I miserably made my way to my Problems and Solution class which I shared with no other than Percy Jackson and also Thalia. We had all semester to work on our senior presentation that had to include what college we wanted to go to, what we wanted to do with our lives, and our short-term goals. Since it wasn't due until December, many students used the period to do nothing.

I sat down on the farthest seat available in the classroom and plugged in my earbuds. I was on the mood for some depressing music, so I went on Spotify, looked up Adele, and pressed play. I didn't know how to feel about my new information. I just wanted to move on and continue with my life. My parents wouldn't get mad at me and I still had amazing grades which meant I would probably be accepted in any university. I shouldn't have taken this as hard as I did.

Maybe I just needed to let it go and forget about it. I opened a new tab on my computer and for the nth time I looked at the admission requirements for Stanford. I nodded along to all the things needed, but then stopped cold. They had added a new requirement. You had to be valedictorian in order to be accepted in the university. Ok, now I could panic without judgement.

Ugh, my life was officially over. My killer was none other than the charming Percy Jackson. I glanced over the room and saw him talking animatedly with Rachel. From afar I could see that they were a good match. They both loved drawing, challenging authority, and the idea of freedom. I always felt the green monster trying to come out whenever I thought about Rachel. I mean, she was one of the reasons Percy and I stopped being best friends.

I first met Percy Jackson at a summer camp the summer before sixth grade. My parents thought it would be a good idea for me to try new things and meet new people. Back then, I sucked at making friends because I was too stuck up. He wasn't. He was the friendliest kid anyone could possibly meet.

After some minutes of me being alone during the camp fire, he came out and sat next to me. "That constellation is called Orion," He said pointing at the stars. Somehow it was the perfect thing to say.

"No you idiot," I said and then took his hand, "now that is Orion." Percy wasn't offended at my insult and instead laughed at himself.

"Sorry I was just trying to impress you," he smiled crookedly at me and I knew it was going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. "You have pretty Princess curls." Percy added.

"Whatever," I scoffed at the notion, "I bet I could kick your butt."

Percy nodded in agreement, "I know you can. My name is Percy." He held out his hand.

"I'm Annabeth," I said and shook his hand.

I spent all day with Percy Jackson and then the whole summer. It was a pleasant surprise to find out he was going to be in the same junior high as me. Things went great between us. We survived puberty together. He got braces and I got glasses. We were best friends. (Don't tell Thalia though.)

It wasn't until eight grade when we started to drift apart. Percy became involved in sports, became fit, and took off his braces. That's not to say I stayed nerdy. I traded my too big glasses for contacts, learned the wonders of a curling iron, and started dancing. Surprisingly, I was a cheerleader during that year.

I started crushing on Percy- curse you hormones-and every time I saw him, my stomach started churning.

"Percy you can't keep canceling on me," I spoke to him on the phone

"Sorry, Beth," he said from the other line, "Something came up with the team. I have to stay for a bit longer than I thought."

"Well that's weird," I said while changing into a babydoll dress. "Football practice ended at the same time as cheer-leading practice."

I heard him breathe and then, "No, no, it's just me. The coach wants to give me some pointers for the next game. So yeah."

"Well, I guess if you have to stay after school, we can reschedule."

"Thanks Annabeth. You're the best!" He hung up before I could even say goodbye to him.

It wasn't the first time he had broken off plans with me. It had gotten to the point that I had backup plans in case he decided to cancel. I had decided to agree to go with the squad for some frozen yogurt just in case and I was glad because I did not want to be stuck at home on a Friday.

We arrived at the place with Thalia chattering happily next to me. I was still bummed about Percy, so I kind of zoned her out. I wasn't paying attention to anyone until Silena screamed out, "Is that Percy? On a date with Rachel Elizabeth Dare?"

"What?" I turned so fast I got a whiplash. It was true. Percy Jackson and R.E.D were sitting super close to each other. He was dressed up with a plaid shirt, dark jeans, and a beanie. Rachel was dressed imperfectly perfect. So cute, they looked like they belonged together. I breathed deeply and then briskly walked out of the yogurt place.

That night, I walked home alone with a ringing phone in my hand.

On Monday at school, I evaded Percy like the plague. I pretended to be mad at him for not telling me the truth, but in reality I was furious that he had gone on a date with someone that wasn't me. He managed to corner me before cheerleading practice. "So I take it you heard?"

"Yeah, I guess," I answered. If only he knew that I actually was there to see it all happen live.

"You're not mad?" Percy asked hopefully. I shook my head no. He visibly sighed in relief, "Oh that's great Wise Girl. I mean I know it was bad of me not tell you, but I was just so nervous and I wanted to keep it a little bit for myself. Rachel is great and like a breath of fresh air. Sometime I just like being away from all of you, you know?"

"What? You wanted to be away from me?" I asked hurt.

"No," he answered automatically, "yes, maybe. I don't know. It's just that we're always together and it can feel a bit much."

"So my mere presence annoys you?" I knew that wasn't what he meant, but I just wanted to pick a fight with him. I wanted to hurt him the way his date with Rachel had hurt me.

"I never said that!" Percy argued.

"If you hate hanging out with me so darn much, then maybe we shouldn't be friends anymore!" I screamed at him before dramatically walking away.

"Fine!" he yelled back.

I honestly thought the fight was going to end by the end of the week. We were Percy and Annabeth. Always together. It didn't. He didn't apologized like he usually did after a fight and I didn't either. Soon enough it was like we were never friends to begin with. I decided to quit cheer-leading, since I only joined because he wanted me to go to every game, and concentrate 100 percent on my studies. He remained the same cool Percy as before.

It may not be fair, but I did always blame Rachel for our fight and everything that happened. I looked away from the happy couple and to the front of the screen. The teacher, Mr. Chiron, showed an electronic school yearbook. Disinterested, I went back to looking at Stanford.

It wasn't until Thalia spoke loudly that I looked up. "Look at how cute Annabeth looks as a cheerleader. Cute picture, but my idiot cousin ruined it." It was a picture of Percy and me after a football game. We both looked so young and happy.

I searched for Percy and found him smiling softly at me. I stared back at him blankly. There was a reason why things ended; I was going to continue to treat him like a stranger. It wasn't hard. I had done it for the past four years.

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 **A/N So I'm glad all of you made it this far. Maybe we can get the story to 10 reviews? ;)**

 **I also wanted to ask you guys if you think its better if i update once a week or whenever I have a chapter ready? There's pros and cons to both options, but I personally want to post them immediately. It can be convenient, since i sometimes write two chapters in one week; however, sometimes i go a month without writing anything. So yeah tell me what you think. Another idea i had was to offer sneak peaks to whoever reviewed. I like it when other writers do it so i thought it may be cool.**

 **Next on I Can't Help But Fall:** He sure looked at me with… _POP! ..._ lust.


	3. Drive

**A/N: I can't believe this is already the third chapter. Oh my! I'm still super excited and I'm going to start writing the fourth chapter. It's like 3 am, but I won't/can't stop. Ah well.**

 **The song is Drive by Halsey. I thought it fits the chapter quite nicely. As of now, Annabeth is in the first stage of having a crush aka denial.**

 **Sorry for all the mistakes. I read over it and I caught some but just in case, I would like to apologize in advance.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the wonderful world of Percy Jackson. Sigh.**

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Annabeth's POV

 _All we do is think about the feelings that we hide_

By the end of the day the only thing I wanted to do was crawl in a hole and just die. Give up right then and there. But I couldn't do that because Piper had apparently forgotten to inform me that the Celibacy Club was going to be meeting today. Seriously, why hadn't Piper asked me earlier? I had about two tests to study for and ten books to finish reading. I barely had enough time to work on my architectural designs. Whoever said high school isn't hard needs to be hit on the head. Repeatedly.

I groaned aloud and got some dirty looks from the people standing by the lockers. If they didn't want to be bothered by any sounds whatsoever, maybe they should have gone home instead of chilling and trying to look cool. I was so busy judging the other students, I tripped on a person.

I fell on the floor with a loud thud and my phone went flying. I cried out in pain for my phone, my brand new phone was probably completely destroyed. I was barely going to buy a cover for it today. I could already hear my mother going on and on about responsibility and the importance of taking care of things.

I sat, defeated, on the floor. The girl I had tripped on scrambled for my phone and held it out to me. A freckled hand appeared in my vision with an obviously broken screen. The girl had seated in front of me and waited patiently for me to grab my poor phone. I looked up to say thanks, just out of politeness, when I noticed, her bright, green eyes.

Of course it had to be Rachel Elizabeth Dare the person I had tripped on. It seemed that the past was stubborn on making itself known today. I quickly grabbed my phone out of her hands and stood up. I knew it was rude to walk away from her without saying anything, but I didn't want to deal with her stupid self.

"I'm so sorry," Rachel immediately apologized, which made it impossible for me to leave. "I know it was a stupid idea to sit on the floor and draw, but I couldn't help it! It was like I had this vision that refused to leave me until I drew it." She continued to ramble for a bit before I decided to stop her.

"Yeah, ok." I said hurriedly and tried to escape.

"No, no, no wait!" Rachel called out to me. I turned around and walked towards her with a fake smile upon my face. It seemed that it was all I was doing this day. "I'll buy you a new one," She offered.

I wanted to say yes because I needed a phone with a screen that actually worked. Besides, Rachel was filthy rich and could probably afford to buy an iPhone 6 plus for every single person in the school. So it wasn't like it was going to affect her. On the other hand, I didn't want to spend much time in her presence. Sure my reasons were pretty childish, but they still held true. Still, I needed a new phone. "Ok." I finally relented.

She smiled brightly as if my acceptance to let her buy me a phone meant the world to her. I smiled in return. "That's great. Percy told me you were also going to join the Celibacy Club, so maybe we could go to Best Buy afterward?"

I nodded to her, but the only things that registered was that Percy had talked to her about _me._ For some unknown reason that made me weak in the knees. Maybe it was just because I had fallen down. Yeah! It was probably my fall and it had nothing to do with Percy Jackson at all.

"That sounds great, Rachel," I said awkwardly. "Well I gotta go, so umm bye." This time the she-devil let me leave.

The club's first meeting did not start until five, so I had about an hour to kill. I thought about going to the library to study, but the idea of spending my time with a book annoyed me. I always studied and yes sometimes I enjoyed it; however, I didn't live and breathe just to study. On days like these, I regretted getting out of every club I was in. Cheerleading may have been a pain in the butt, but it sure had given me a nice one.

Maybe all I needed to do was join something athletically challenging. I could probably join cross country or I don't know maybe even basketball. I just needed to do something that released all this pent up energy. Then I wouldn't feel anything towards that annoying guy.

After much wondering I decided that maybe I could go to the gym. The gym was a common place for students to hang out after school. Sometimes, there would be practices, but even then, no one minded all the students hanging there.

I climbed on top of the bleachers and then took out my sketch pat. Contrary to popular belief, I drew other things apart from buildings and floor plans. Although I didn't do it often, I loved drawing people. I had a ton of drawings of my baby brothers. Mostly because I bribed them with cookies to pose for me.

A couple sitting a bit closer to the ground caught my attention. Without even thinking about it, I started drawing their silhouettes. I spent the rest of the time trying to perfect the image. I had a thing, maybe obsession, with love. I just wanted to understand it and down the line, experience it. In the meantime I contended myself with drawing other people in love. The dark haired male turned my way. So it seemed I had been drawing Nico Di Angelo and Will Solace. They were pretty cute. I was going to overlook that fact that a blonde and dark-haired person had caught my eye.

"Are you going to give it to them?" a voice asked from right next to me. Too close to me.

I jumped a little, but then turned to look at Percy, "Nope," I answered. "This is my property now," I continued while signing my name and date in the paper.

He laughed and it was like the world stood still. "Probably a good idea. Nico would freak out."

After that an awkward silence followed. I honestly didn't know why Percy was making an attempt to rekindle our friendship, but I wanted him to stop. I couldn't handle being near him knowing that we could never be anything but friends.

"So yeah, I should probably head to that stupid meeting," I said while looking at the time.

"Yes!" Percy said happily, "Do you know what room it is?" He cocked his head to the side and waited for me to answer. "You know what?" Ok, maybe he didn't wait for me. "Let's just walk together."

He turned his baby seal eyes to me and I couldn't possibly refuse him. "Sure."

We walked in silence towards the classroom for a bit before I decided to ask him about his rank. The things that started it all, "So I went to the counselor today," I started, "and she told me some pretty interesting things. Have you gone?"

Percy looked confused for a second before answering me, "Yeah. Paul basically forced me to go." Paul was Percy's stepdad and also an English teacher in our school. He probably found out Percy's rank and forced him to have a meeting.

"You know," Percy said, "if it counts for anything, I think you are way smarter than me."

I smiled at him for a split second before looking away. It was too easy to get lost in him. "Hell yes I am." I said instead of thanking him, but he smiled. This crooked smile that was reserved just for me, so I figured I might have said the right thing after all.

Apparently, everyone in the school turned out to be punctual, so Percy and I were the last ones to join the meeting. Piper raised her eyebrow at me, but I just shook my head. I didn't want to talk about it. Now or ever.

"Ok," Piper said. "Since we're all here," she glared at Percy and me. "I want to talk about what this club will be all about: Sex."

Some girls gasped at the mentioned of the word sex as if they had never heard it before. "I should probably rephrase that. What I mean is that I want everyone in this school to be educated and mostly safe. Like seriously, the amount of pregnant girls in this school is ridiculous."

That was true. There were maybe three pregnant girls this year alone and it was barely November. Piper continued, "Now if you want to remain a virgin until you get married that's cool and all." While everyone was busy being shocked, I made my way to an empty seat. Once seated, I saw Percy sitting next to R.E.D. Not that I cared or anything.

"Jason," Piper started, "Pass out the condoms please."

A small girl with curly brown hair and dark skin raised up her hand, "Is that even allowed?" I tried to stop myself from laughing, but it was so hard. She looked so scandalized and scared. The poor girl was probably a freshman.

"As the captain slash leader of this club, I say it is." After that, no one bothered to question Piper's authority. I must confess that the junior could be very threatening when she wanted to be. "Now everyone stand up!" she commanded.

We obeyed. "Get into partners. Please pair up with people you are attracted to." Oh no, who the hell was I going to be with? The only person I was remotely attracted to probably pair off with a pretty redhead. I smile shyly and waited for someone to approach me.

"Sup Annie?" A boy with sandy hair and blue eyes greeted me.

"Luke," I said confused. "No offense, but I'll rather not be with you. Thalia would murder me and you for that matter."

"Why?" he asked. "It's not like we're still dating." That much was true, but Luke did not know how much Thalia still pinned over him. I couldn't exactly still him that. It was best friend confidentiality.

"I guess you're right…" I muttered.

"Awesome," Piper said, "Jason and I will be placing a balloon between the two and the objective is to pop it."

"Isn't that the opposite objective of the balloon thing?" I asked.

"Shush Annabeth. I watched Glee." Piper answered. I had also seen that episode and I was pretty sure Piper was remembering wrong, but I didn't bother fighting her.

"Go!" Piper screamed after each couple had a balloon.

At first Luke and I just stared at each other. "Please tell me this is weird to you too." I said to Luke. "How are we even supposed to pop it?"

"Oh well," I was amazed to see Luke start blushing. He looked like a tomato!

"Aren't we just supposed to get closer?"

"Mhm." I had the faint idea of what Luke was thinking would pop the balloon, but I didn't want to embarrass him farther. On the other hand, it would be fun to tease him about it.

We started to press our bodies together, but the darn balloon wouldn't pop. I bit my lip and started coming up with an idea. I looked down to our hips and noticed that while we were pretty much face to face, our lower bodies were apart. Luke might have noticed that as well because he grabbed me by the hips and brought me closer to him. I looked up to his sky blue eyes and felt a shiver run down my spine. He sure looked at me with… _POP! ..._ lust.

"You guys get an ice cream coupon for being the second couple to pop that balloon," Jason said monotone.

Who was the first one? Oh. Percy and Rachel. Of course it was them. Of course Percy Jackson had to beat me once again. Of course, of course, of course. It seemed that whatever I was beginning to feel for Percy disappeared as fast as it had come.

I sat down again to study the couples. After a while some pairs gave up and just popped the balloon with their nails. Piper glared at those couple with disapproval for the rest of the evening. Once again the freshman decided to ask the point of the balloon game. "I just wanted you guys to understand that, you shouldn't do anything you don't want to because of peer pressure."

A round of ah's went around the room, but I knew Piper better. She was very good at making stuff up on the spot. "Club dismissed, we meet once again next week at the same time."

I was thinking I would just escape with the rest of the group; however, Piper stopped me. "Annabeth, is there something I should know?"

I looked straight into her kaleidoscope eyes and lied. "Not at all. Now if you excuse me, Rachel is waiting for me."

"Rachel?" She called out.

Rachel was quite easy to find because of her hair. It always looked like a flame of fire. I made my way towards her and immediately regretted my action. She was too busy staring into Percy's eyes. They seemed to do that a lot.

I didn't know whether to run away or stay. I finally decided that a new phone was too important to pass up, so I cleared my throat. Rachel jumped back, but Percy just smiled lazily. "Hey Annabeth! Percy's going to give us a ride if you don't mind."

"It's ok," I said.

We got inside Percy's car and all the time they were joking around and laughing. I didn't understand them. I was usually very good at reading people, but I couldn't figure them out. Sometimes they acted like they were dating and sometimes like best friends.

I was looking through my bag for my phone when Rachel spoke up, "How come you aren't in cheerleading anymore. I had already forgotten you were in it until I saw the picture today."

"I don't know," I said, "I guess I didn't have the energy to cheer on a team that always lost."

"Hey!" Percy shouted, "Did you even see us this season? We were amazing," Percy bragged about his team.

"That's so surprising." I answered him.

We finally arrived at the store and I was eager to buy the phone. "You want the rose gold one, right?" Rachel asked. She took off the seatbelt and made her way out of the car.

"Yeah, do you want me to go with you?"

"Nah I got it," She playfully hit Percy's arm and went inside the store.

So there we were. Together and alone once again. "Wanna go on a date?" Percy asked.

This day had certainly been extremely weird, but this had definitely topped it all. "Like with you?" I asked dumbfounded.

"Oh Annabeth, I thought you were smarter than that."

"Excuse me?" I said. There was definitely an insult somewhere there. If only my brain wasn't turned to mush, I would insult him back.

He turned his body towards me, which I hated. Now I had his powerful stare on me. It sucked, he sucked, and this whole day had sucked. "Do you want to go on a date with me?"

"No," I wanted to answer. But something held me back. I didn't know why Percy had asked me out when he was so in love with Rachel, but I could definitely use this to my advantage. Aphrodite had said that they only way I could go up was if Percy went down. What other thing drove a boy out of his mind than a girl? I could seduce him; have him thinking that up is down and right is wrong.

I turned to him and said, "Yes."

* * *

 **A/N: Who caught the BotL reference? I personally love that quote :)**

 **Next on I Can't Help But Fall:** Of course! You're really important to me and I would do anything for you, Annabeth.


	4. Young Blood

**A/N: Hello everyone. Well i just want to thank evryone that is following this story :) This chapter is a bit shorter, but i thought the date should have a full chapter ;). It would REALLY make my day if you guys reviewed. It can be whatever you know like: update, yay, awesome. I'm not picky hahha.**

 **BTW, I update every Tuesday. AND SORRY FOR ALL ERRORS.**

 **The song is Young Blood. I originally heard the Birdy cover, but it's actually by The Naked and Famous.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the song or books. :)**

* * *

Annabeth's POV

 _Fall back in love eventually_

The first thing Piper told me when I arrived at lunch was, "Annabeth, please don't be mad at me." There were about a million and one things Piper had done to make me mad although I had never done more than sigh in annoyance. I don't know what the hell Piper had done to basically beg me not to get angry.

I dropped my plate on the table and audibly took a deep breath, "What did you do now, Piper?"

She looked guilty which surprised, since she was about the most unapologetic person I had ever met. "Ok, so you know how I have Rachel for art?" I nodded and she proceeded, "I kind of heard her talking to Nico about how you and Percy were going on a date."

"I don't mind that you know, Piper," I said trying to ease her pain. It really wasn't a big deal. I was actually planning on asking her to help me get ready.

"Yes I know you wouldn't, but that's not what I'm sorry about." Piper had a frown on her face which made me worry about what she was going to say.

"So what is it?"

"I couldn't help but ask Rachel why she was so cool with it. I mean, I thought they were kind of a thing." So had I. "Rachel said that Percy didn't ask you out on a romantic date. He just wanted to be friends with you again." Piper finished.

Piper hadn't feared my wrath, but in reality, she was sorry _for_ me. I honestly didn't know if I was disappointed or not. Whether he liked me or not, did it really matter? A love triangle was a more effective way to rob a person's mind. Well, according to Young Adult literature at least. That and the end of the world, but I don't think I could ever make the latter happen.

"Its fine Piper," I consoled her. Huh. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way? "I kind of don't like him either." I admitted.

"Oh that's great!" Piper said relieved.

"But I do want him to like me." I continued what I was trying to say in the first place. I really hoped Piper was going to be on this with me. If she didn't approve my idea, then I don't know what I would do. I needed to be valedictorian; however, a part of me didn't want to use someone's feelings in order to achieve it.

"Why?" She asked me.

"Please don't think that I'm crazy, but I kind of want to seduce Percy and make him forget all about his grades," I said my plan really fast, so she wouldn't understand the implications behind it.

Piper stayed quiet for a long time before speaking. "Annabeth that is a very serious thing you want to do." I was happy that there was no judgement in her voice. That meant that she was at least giving me the benefit of the doubt.

"I know Piper! I just don't see how else I can achieve my goal. I've been dreaming about this since I was a little girl. What I really want to know is: are you going to help me?" I had asked for Piper's help instead of Thalia's for a variety of reasons. The first was the Percy and Thalia were family. Second, Piper was better at this romance thing whether she liked it or not. Most important, I couldn't look at Thalia in the eye after what had happened with Luke Castellan.

"Of course! You're really important to me and I would do anything for you, Annabeth." Piper said. I couldn't help but feel touched. Piper was really a great friend. "It doesn't matter if it's legal or not," she added.

"Haha," I laughed, "I think this is pretty legal."

"For now," Piper winked at me, "Besides, you know what they say: All's fair in love and war."

"You guys aren't going to egg Reyna's house, right?" Jason asked. I was distracted by the person that was standing next to him. I may have stared at him for longer than I should, but I couldn't help it. Percy was just so captivating.

"Wow, Percy," Piper said, "You just couldn't wait to see Annabeth again, huh?"

My immediate reaction would have been to look down and start blushing. I didn't do that however. I smirked instead and subtlety flipped my hair. "I know I'm too much to resist," I said teasingly.

Percy laughed a little before sitting down next to me. "You got that right." Why did he have to be like that? You know, share his feelings freely and without a care. I both loved and hated that about him. We stared at each other in wonder. I couldn't help but feeling how right this was. The years we had spent apart seemed so irrelevant at the moment.

"I thought we were the lovebirds here," Jason said.

"Whatever," I said, "At least we're not sucking faces like you guys."

"Yet," Piper responded. "So where are you taking little Annabeth? You guys still have the condoms?" Piper finished her ridiculous questions with a wink.

"Holy hell," I said, "Stop." I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help but steal Percy a look. He was in deep thought as if he was actually thinking about the sex thing.

He finally looked up and saw me with a raised eyebrow, "What? No. I was actually thinking about the date and not the other thing," Percy explained looking embarrassed. "You know, guys think about more than sex. That's just a rumor. Right, Jason?"

Jason was in the clouds. There was no other way to describe the goofy look upon his face. "Sure, Perce."

Percy sighed in defeat, "Jason doesn't count, guys."

"Ay, true," Piper responded. "Hey," Piper said suddenly remembering, "Where's Thalia?"

I looked around and noticed that there were no more people at the lunch line, yet Thalia wasn't here. I didn't want to admit, even to myself, that I was glad she wasn't here. I didn't like Luke at all: I knew this much although he did make me feel some pretty intense things. The exchanged that had happened between us at the Celibacy Club made me feel incredibly guilty.

Jason started talking with his mouth full of food, which was incredibly disgusting, "I saw her sneaking out after third with Luke."

"Luke Castellan?" Piper asked. Oh no. She finally remembered what had happened yesterday. I didn't think it was that much of a big deal.

"No," Jason said with a straight face, "Luke Williams." When Piper glared, Jason quickly backtracked, "Yes, sweetheart. I love you so much." Piper didn't have the chance to respond because the bell rang. Ha, saved by the bell.

Percy and I walked towards the Problems and Solutions class. Once there, he decided to take a seat next to me. "Huh. This is how the other half lives."

"That makes no sense whatsoever," I said. He was basically implying that I was rich and he was poor which wasn't true. Sure, I came from old money. That wasn't too said that Percy was poor in comparison. His mother, Sally, was actually a bestselling author.

"I meant sitting in the back; that's new to me."

"Who would have thought Percy Jackson was a goody two shoes..." I mused aloud. The Percy I knew always sat in the back. He fidgeted a lot and he always had a sarcastic answer to all of the teacher's questions. It suddenly hit me that I had no idea who the person in front of me was. I didn't know how that made me feel. Sad that I no longer knew someone I considered my best friend? Or happy that I didn't know the person I was planning to use?

"Well, people change," Percy admitted.

"Yeah they do," I agreed.

I almost cancelled the date twice.

Every time I thought about the date, my heart started beating uncontrollably. Was I really that desperate? Sure, I've always had a competitive streak. Sure I've sometimes done less than honest thing in order to win. But this was too much even for me.

The first time was right after school. I asked Rachel, who asked Nico, who asked Rachel for Percy's number. It turns out that Percy Jackson is probably the only teenager without a phone. He didn't even have a flip phone! This is why when I called, Sally Jackson was the one that answered. Sally is Percy's amazing mother. She was almost like a mother to me before Percy and I "broke up."

Sally was extremely excited Percy and I started talking again. She went on and on about how Percy needed me to keep me in check and how she couldn't wait to see me again. When she passed the phone to Percy, I didn't have the heart to cancel.

The second time was on Friday during lunch. I pulled Percy inside a classroom and tried to list all the reasons why we shouldn't go out. I couldn't even say the first one before he started joking around about what to do in an empty classroom. He looked at me with those baby seal eyes and I couldn't do anything but deeply stare into them. Of course, a teacher came inside at that same moment and we were both giving a very serious talk and a lot of condoms.

Maybe this was a sign that I should do this. Or that I shouldn't? It didn't matter because it was too late to change my mind. Percy would be arriving at any minute now and I was officially freaking out now. I mean, more than I already was.

I ran a hand through my straight hair and cursed myself. Why had I even bothered doing that? Did it send the wrong message? What was the wrong message anyways? The whole point of going was to make him love me. I prepared myself with about a thousand Wiki articles on how to flirt. They all said the same: smile, laugh, and flip your hair. I just hoped he wouldn't start laughing if I did something like that.

I probably would have continued my debate if it wasn't for a loud knock. I gathered as much courage as I could and made my way to the door. I plastered a smile on my face and opened the door. At first I couldn't see Percy because he was holding a bouquet of roses.

"Are you ready to go," he asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I answered truthfully.

* * *

 **A/N: So what do y'all think about Annabeth's plan? Do you think the date will go smoothly? So many questions.**

 **Anyways, thank you so much for reading and being awesome.**

 **Next time on I Can't Help But Fall:** I wonder what it would be like to press my lips against his.


	5. Prisoner

**A/N: Well look at that I updated a day earlier and about two years later. Sorry about that. Honestly I've been meaning to write for a new chapter, and even contemplated turning it into a long one shot, but I never did anything until today that I was rereading it and I was like what? Didn't I write more? Which I had; I wrote half a chapter in January and forgot all about it until today. Whoops, right?**

 **Anyways, I hope that I make up with it with this chapter and expect more soon since I'm interested in this story once again. Also sorry for any errors, I kinda wrote it and immediately decided to post it and sorry if it seems a bit mismatched, but I did wait eleven months to finish the chapter.**

 **The song is Prisoner by The Weeknd ft. Lana Del Rey**

 **Disclaimer: I owe nothing.**

* * *

 _I don't mean to come off selfish, but I want it all_

 _Love will always be a lesson, let's get out of its way_

"So you know I'm not trying to sound like a little kid, but," I said stressing the u, "are we there yet?" It seemed to me like we had been driving for at least some good forty minutes. I was getting a bit antsy.

Percy kept looking straight ahead but I saw a small smile tug his lips. "Yep." Thank the heavens. "About halfway there." That's not good.

"Halfway?" I asked incredulously. "Are you sure you didn't mean ten more minutes so we're actually like way more than halfway there?"

"Mr. Scott would be very proud."

"Oh shut up, Percy. I know what it is.I haven't forgotten all my math knowledge. I have you know I'm taking Calculus this year as opposed to you." It was one of the worst decisions of my life. I mean, I loved math; however, my teacher was quite horrible. Not in the doesn't teach type of way but in the his-homework-kicks-my-ass way.

"I'm just teasing you, Beth." He answered smoothly. The shock of hearing that name made my chest hurt a little. No one had ever called me that since Percy and I had stopped being friends. It was one of the few nicknames I permitted and actually liked.

I tried to shake off my feeling of guilt. "Seriously, where are we going?"

"You know what they say about curiosity."

I rolled my eyes. "I just wanna know if tomorrow the police is gonna find my body in a ditch somewhere far away in the woods."

"We don't even have woods here!" Percy protested slightly.

"Aha!" I shouted, "You didn't deny it!"

He didn't answer me and opted to turn of the radio volume. I could see him reaching for the next button, but I gently took away his from the radio. He turned to look at me slowly. "The Weeknd? Aren't his songs a bit sexist for you?"

"Well I mean it's not the greatest message, but they're kind of hot." I could see he was no longer paying attention to what I was saying or the road for that matter. He seemed way more interested in looking at our intertwined hands.

Testing the waters a bit more. I moved the hand I was holding from on top of the gear stick to on top of my bare leg.

"Hot, huh?" Percy asked while caressing my thigh. Little goosebumps rose where his fingers touched me. It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. For the hundredth time that day I wondered if this whole plan was going to backfire horribly.

* * *

Once we got off the highway and saw the concrete turtles I knew exactly where we were heading. "The beach? Really?" Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the beach, but with humidity I certainly did. I had spent almost two hours killing my curls and once I set foot on the sand my hair would poof up immediately

Percy shook his head. "You forgot to say yay after that really."

"Yay," I murmured sarcastically.

A few more minutes and we were parked in a nice restaurant in front of the ocean. Percy turned off the car and looked straight into my eyes, "Wait here." He got out of the car and went around it to open my door.

I tried very hard not to smile as he helped me get out of the car, but it was so damn hard not. He was being such a gentleman and I would be lying if I said this wasn't the best day I had ever been on. "Wow, isn't this a bit too much for a friendly date?" I asked. "You could have just brought pizza and asked, 'Let's be best friends again.'"

"Rachel's my best friend." Percy correctly automatically."I don't need another one."

I tried very hard not to be hurt by his comment. "So why are we here?"

He looked a bit confused, "Because I like you Annabeth." He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But Rachel said…Aren't you... What?"

"Rachel and I broke up in the summer," Percy admitted.

"Summer as in June or as in September?" I asked hoping that he wasn't trying to make me his rebound girl because that would fucking suck.

"August?" He guessed. "We were together for so long and she wanted to explore her sexuality a bit more. But you know apart from some teasing, there's nothing going on between us."

I wanted to ask a million questions. I should be happy that he was already interested in me so I wouldn't have too try to hard, but at the same time it hurt that I was just some girl he started having feelings for. As though we didn't have a past together. Being his best friend in middle school meant the world to me and he didn't care.

"Ok," I said. "I haven't eaten here before, so you're going to have to tell me what's good." Percy was still leaning against the car with a confused expression. "Are you coming or what?"

I hate to admit, but I had a really good time. Many times during the date, I wondered many times what it would be like to press my lips against his. It wasn't until we were eating dessert that he wiped away a bit of powdered sugar from my lips and leaned in to kiss me. Playfully at first, biting my lower lip causing me to grin into the kiss, then so achingly soft that made shiver with want.

Percy was insisted we went to the beach before leaving. Sure it was kind of chilly, but that didn't deter him at all. It was kind of nice how excited he was about the whole ordeal; like a little kid during Christmas' morning. "We're not getting in the water, correct?" I clarified.

Very reluctantly he nodded, "But we could if you want."

"I don't have a swimsuit."

"You don't need one," he immediately responded.

I stopped walking and wrapped my arms around his neck. "We could just take romantic walk on the beach, no need to involve any saltwater."

"Romantic walk on the beach, huh? I can do that." He leaned in to plant a quick kiss on my lips. "Shall we?" Percy asked as he grabbed my hand.

Not even ten minutes later, Percy broke his promise. "Really? You brought swim trunks?"

"Sorry?" he kind of apologized while knee deep in the water.

"I swear if you get sick…" I threatened.

"Please," he responded.

I decided to maybe just sit on the sand and watch him. It was truly a spectacular sight. Percy in the water seemed almost magical; I half expected him to have a tail. After a while I decided the hell with it. Sure, I was wearing a really nice dress and it had taken me over two hours to straighten my hair, but nonetheless I made my way to the ocean.

It was almost as if Percy could feel the exact moment I stepped in the ocean, since he immediately turn to look at me. "What was that about saltwater?" He teased.

"Oh shut up, Percy." I slowly went inside shivering a little because of the water. Going swimming in October was _not_ a very idea. But yet, something about being near Percy made me feel braver.

Before the water touched my dress, Percy rushed to my side. "Hey, you don't have to come in."

"I thought you wanted to?" I asked.

In the darkness, I could faintly see his face reddening. Was he blushing? "I don't want you to ruin your pretty dress."

I smiled completely giddy at the fact my boyfriend(?) was complimenting me. Another part of me was warning me against falling in too deep. "Oh?"

"Besides, what will your parents think if I brought you back all wet?"

Who would have thought Percy would be so sweet? _Rachel_ my jealousy yelled, but I ignored it. "That we had a nice day at the beach?" I suggested.

Percy shook his head, "Come on let's go back home."

The ride back home was a lot nicer. Mainly because whenever I was bored, I could now plant small kisses on Percy's face. Though in the long run, it was counterproductive since it caused him to pull off twice to properly kiss me.

We arrived at my house and I turned to look at him, "Do you want me to wait again?"

"Nah," he answered.

"Just when I was getting used to it," I mumbled disappointed. Or at least I tried to make it sound like that, but honestly, I was smiling the whole time.

Percy groaned, "Well if I must…"

Please! The car doors are much too heavy for my dainty hands," I said sarcastically.

Percy walked outside and opened my door; helping me get off the car. "I know you can pack a punch."

"A smart boy."

We laced hands as we walked to the door. We stood there for a while; neither one wanting to break the silence. "So," I started, "I had a good time today."

"Just good?" Percy scoffed, "I really need to amp my game."

"A great time actually," I mumbled into his neck.

He cupped my face between his hands and leaned in to kiss me. A sweet kiss. A perfect kiss to end the date. After we parted he said, "I'm glad. Goodnight, Annabeth."

"Goodnight Percy," I whispered to his retreating form. My head was dizzy, dizzy from the kiss, dizzy from the date, dizzy from my plan. Could I really do this? Could I really break his heart just to get what I wanted? I wasn't so sure, but Stanford was my dream school and Percy was just a boy.

He was just a boy I hadn't talked to or acknowledge his presence in almost four years. He had ignored me right back. Would it really be so terrible? It probably wouldn't work anyways; I was just the rebound girl. To kill time while he and Rachel got back together.

The thought reinforced my plan. I could do this, with no problem at all.

* * *

 **A/N: So I'm thinking ten chapters? I have faint idea of what I want and how I want to end it. Also, I've been working on a one-shot; hopefully will be around 10k so be on the lookout for it.**

 **Please review, if you want of course, to give me some feedback and what ya'll would like to see next. Thank you!**


	6. Bubblegum Bitch

**A/N: Ok, I also can't believe I updated already. #shook. Its just that I'm very eager to finish the story and concentrate on my other story, so I can post it already. Maybe I'll update again later today or tomorrow :) Also sorry for any mistakes.**

 **The song is Bubblegum Bitch by Marina and the Diamonds**

 **Disclaimer: I owe nothing**

* * *

Annabeth's POV

 _Oh dear diary, I met a boy_

 _He made my doll heart light up with joy_

 _Oh dear diary, we fell apart_

For the first time in my life, I was distracted in class. You couldn't really blame me though. Any normal person would be the distracted just by the sight of my boyfriend. My boyfriend, just the thought of the word sent my heart into a frenzy and made my insides feel like a puddle of goo.

I had Percy for Biology AP this semester. Something that I had completely ignored for all of August, September, and most of October. But now that we've been together for a month, all I wanted to do in class was stare at his face. At his long eyelashes, at the way the light made his eyes look, and specially at his lips.

So yeah, sue me, but I enjoyed looking at Percy, more than I enjoyed learning about organisms. Which was definitely very bad for me considering it was my worst subject. I loved math, I could happily spend all day studying trigonometry. I kind of had to love history, since my dad was a history professor. I even enjoyed English, but did I not see the point of learning how a plant reproduces.

On the other hand, Percy loved biology. He was good, really good. It was the type of intelligence where everything just stayed. He only needed to hear it once; no need for studying, taking notes, or making elaborate drawings just to understand the concept.

I must have been staring for longer than I thought because he caught my eye and smirked. I just lifted my eyebrows and rolled my eyes. He could be just so annoying at times. So what if he caught me staring at him? That gave him no right to smile like that. Percy reached over and grabbed my hand. All my annoyance left, just leaving me with a warm feeling.

"I finished grading the test results from last Friday," started my biology teacher, Mr. Grant, "The results were awful. Half of you did not pass."

The class went awfully quiet. Everyone started to wonder if they had been one of the lucky ones that had passed. As for me, I had no idea. I had tried to study the day before the test: wrote notecards with the definitions. But then Percy had come over and the notecards had been left forgotten. I did not fail, I knew that, however, I also did not get above a ninety.

"Congratulations, Mr. Jackson," Mr. Grant said as he placed Percy's exams on his deck. I peeked the top where a red 100 was shining brightly. It seemed like he did just fine without studying. I didn't mean to feel jealous, but the familiar sensation crawled inside of me grabbing my heart and squeezing.

It's been awhile since I last thought of my plan, since being with Percy made me forgetful. At first, I didn't try anything. Piper was very clear that if we started fighting right away it would be easier for him to dump me as opposed to fight for me. Then the next week, I tried to feign jealousy at his relationship with Rachel (maybe I didn't feign that), but he had shown up at my doorstep so determined to get me to talk to him. Suffice to say, we made up within an hour.

After that, it was happy sailing for two weeks. I had forgotten all about being valedictorian, happy to simply live in the moment as opposed to freaking about every single thing. It seemed that my blase attitude had come back to bite me in the ass. Mr. Grant gave me my test back and I held in my breath. My stomach started churning wildly; I didn't get nervous often, but i had a bad feeling. I took off my hand from the grade revealing a 70.

For a moment, it didn't click. Had I really gotten such a low grade? How was that possible? After that, I was in denial. The teacher must have graded it wrong or something. I grabbed Percy's test without asking and started comparing the answers. It was true. I really had gotten a 70. The bell rang snapping me out of my daze.

"We are going over the topic, _again_ , since it seemed most of you did not understand," Mr. Grant said trying to make his voice heard over the noise. I paid no attention to him or Percy as I raced out of the classroom.

* * *

After Economics, which was my last test, I didn't know where to go. Usually I would go to the library or go to them gym and wait for Percy to get off practice, but I didn't want to see him. I hated being less than perfect or getting such a low grade. I knew grades did not equate intelligence, yet I couldn't shake off the crushing disappointment. In the long run, it wouldn't affect me at all. What was one bad test grade in the scheme of things?

I decided to just head home for the day. I grabbed my stuff from my locker and made my way to the parking lot, "Annabeth!" a voice called out from behind me.

I turned around to find Piper running towards. Today her hair was braided in two twin braids intertwined with feathers. She always managed to look effortlessly pretty. "Hey," She caught up with me, "Tomorrow we have a meeting."

"Oh yes, we can't make it though," I answered. Tomorrow would be Percy's and I one month anniversary, and although we hadn't made any plans, I assumed we would be going somewhere. No matter how irrationally angry I was today.

"We?" Piper teased. "Aw that's cute. Jason and I haven't done that in so long." She looked away wistfully. "Anyways, yeah no problem. We were just going to help the party committee plan the winter formal. So no biggie."

"It's not even December yet," I protested.

"Yeah well, this is like the pre-Prom, so the party committee wants it to be perfect. I kept telling them it's not until December 15, but that just freaked them out more," Piper sighed at their antics then changed the topic. "Are you okay? You look kind of shaken…"

I didn't answer; I simply took out the test from my backpack and showed her. "Oh," she murmured, then brightly said, "It's not too bad, Annabeth. Don't beat yourself up. Just study harder next time."

"I didn't study at all," I confessed.

Piper's eyebrows went up in surprise, "Ok, well then. Study next time?" She seemed at loss for words.

"Percy came over and instead of studying for the bio exam, we spent the time making out," I continued explaining, "Somehow he got an amazing grade and all I got what was a nasty seventy."

"Wait wasn't the plan to make _his_ grades suffer?" Piper pointed out.

"Who's going to suffer?" A shiver ran up my spine. God, if the wrong person heard that I would be dead. I turned my head slowly to find Luke walking towards us.

"No one," I said trying to remain calm.

At the same time Piper blurted out, "Percy." I turned to face her wondering if she had completely lost her mind. She turned to face me her eyes saying _trust me_. "Annabeth bought this really cute red dress that is going to drive Percy insane." A pause. "Not that it's any of your business."

Luke looked at me and I flashed back to that day of the balloon. _Don't feel guilty_ , I told myself, _nothing happened._ Nothing will ever happen. I was not attracted to Luke Castellan, sure he made me feel a bit funny in the head that one time, but that was it. Besides I had a boyfriend and he had that weird thing he had going on with Thalia.

"Lucky guy," was his only replied. The three of us stayed placed in a weird triangle. He didn't seem likely to leave and Piper did not want to leave me alone with him. Maybe I should be the one to leave.

"Well, I'll see you guys later," I started making my way to my car when I remembered I had come with Percy. Luke seemed to realize that too. I changed paths and walked to the library.

"I'll come with you," Luke called out. I didn't argue knowing it would be futile. We walked in silence all the way to the library. Instead of going inside, I opted to sit on the bench in front of the library. Finally Luke spoke, "I heard what Piper said."

I looked into his blue eyes, "Are you going to tell Percy?"

To my surprise he shook his head. "What if I help you instead?"

He hadn't even finished his sentence when I asked, "Why would you do that?"

"Jackson's an ass," Luke took a deep breath, "I kind of like you Annabeth."

A part of me wasn't too shocked by his revelation. I had inkling that he may have started seeing me in a different light that day. Another part of me recoiled. He was Thalia's whether he liked it or not. I scoffed, "Well, good luck with that."

Luke started blushing, "I'm being serious."

"So am I, Luke. Thalia is my best friend. You think I would hurt her this way." I thought he was going to shake his head or argue with me, instead all he did was smile."What?"

"You never said you didn't like me too."

"It was implied," I protested.

"Oh really?" Quick as lightning he grabbed me until we were pressed together. I tried to slow down my heart. I couldn't concentrate over the thumping of it. What was going on again? "Can you honestly tell me you feel nothing?"

 _Yes_ , I wanted to shout. I wanted to ask him to unhand me and to tell me he had no right of grabbing me like that. I didn't have time to say anything though because of that moment Percy showed up looking extremely confused and hurt.

Luke let go of me almost immediately. "Wh-what are you doing here so early?" I stammered out then realized my mistake when I saw Percy's eyes narrowing.

"Coach let us out early," Percy explained.

"Great," I said trying to sound cheerful as opposed to sarcastic. I walked over to where he was standing and pecked him on the lips, "Are you ready to go?"

Percy looked like he wanted to argue. Like he wanted to stay and say some scathing things to Luke and maybe punch him once or twice. He wasn't that person anymore though, so he let me lead him away. He didn't do anything else than tightly squeeze my hand when Luke teasingly called out, "See you tomorrow, Annabeth."

Once we were inside the car he finally asked, "Are we going to talk about what happened?"

"Nothing happened." I replied.

Slowly he reversed out of the parking spot and drove me home in complete silence.

* * *

 **A/N: PLEASE REVIEW OKAY THANK YOU :0 Haha so remember the long one shot I talked about? I decided to break it up in 6 parts. So yeah the drama is picking up lol.**


	7. Strange Love

**A/N: I'm like two days late, sorry! But the chapter is like way longer that I've ever written. Sometimes I'm like damn I write the same was two years ago, but I find it way easier to write more. Before I struggled with even 1k.**

 **Song is Strange Love by Halsey**

 **Again, I apologize for any and all mistakes.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't owe PJO or the song.**

* * *

Annabeth's POV

 _They know you walk like you're a god_

 _They can't believe I made you weak_

I couldn't stand the silence. I couldn't stand the guilt. Most of all, I couldn't stand the thought of Percy being mad at me. In that moment, I realized that I couldn't possibly go on with that silly plan. "Nothing happened, you know," I explained.

Percy stopped the car in front of my house and didn't speak for a moment, finally, "You were hugging him."

I wanted to defend myself and tell him it was Luke the one that grabbed me. I didn't saying anything because I didn't know if it was going to make things worse. I decided to downplay it instead, "He has a small crush on me; that's all."

It was apparently the wrong thing to say, "Yeah, we all saw that at that stupid meeting."

"What do you mean?" I asked and then I remembered what he was talking about. The first meeting of the Celibacy Club. It was the last time we did things in partners. Mostly it had been turned into a Movie Club. We spent two meetings watching _Juno._

Percy looked at me as if asking _seriously?_ "The balloon thing Annabeth, we all saw it."

"Hey, you and Rachel beat us to that."

Percy rolled his eyes, "You didn't catch us embracing."I didn't need to catch them to know they had done been together. They dated for almost four years; they shared everything together: their first kiss, their first time, everything.

 _You have no right to be jealous,_ I told myself. Whatever they shared was over and Percy wasn't the type of guy to go around cheating on people. Sally had raised him better than that. Besides, he was right. Ever since we started dating, Rachel kept a respectful distance from Percy. Still, I would rather they stopped hanging out at all.

"Well, you can trust me," I said grabbing his hand. _Except when it comes to grades,_ but I didn't voice that thought.

"I trust you," Percy must have seen my incredulous look because he continued, "I just don't like Luke, there's something weird about that guy. I mean you also used to crush on him."

"What?" I was surprised. I hadn't been into Luke since middle school, probably seventh grade, yet Percy remembered that.

"Oh like you don't remember." Percy said then starting imitating me, "His eyes are so gorgeous and blue like the sky."

It was true. I used to talk about Luke constantly; I was crushed when he started dating Thalia, but I moved on fairly easy. By that time, I was starting to feel something different for my best friend. "Don't be jealous, Percy."

"I was. I am." Percy confessed. "It feels like eighth-grade all over again."

"Except you didn't like me in eighth-grade," I corrected him. If he had, things may have been so different at this point.

"Yeah," he whispered in my ear with no conviction. Percy took the opportunity to kiss me; it was harsher as if he was proving a point. It left me breathless, and made disappear any lingering thoughts I had about Luke. "I may have had a crush on you."

There was no way he did, he was just being nice, right? I didn't want to believe because if he wasn't lying then we both missed a huge opportunity. I stopped being friends with him, stopped talking to him, all because I couldn't stand to see him with someone else. "No, you didn't." I protested.

"Remember the seventh-grade dance?" I nodded. "That's when I started to like you. At first I didn't know what the hell was going on. But every time I saw you, my stomach would feel all weird like if there was something inside."

"Butterflies?" I asked.

Percy simply nodded.

I remembered the dance too. I was sad that day for some reason, so Percy had asked me to dance a fun upbeat song and I agreed. The music changed to a slow song and instead of sitting down, we continued dancing. He didn't know how to slow song, I was a bit taller, and it was so extremely awkward. Awkward, but nice.

"Ok, that's sweet." I leaned over to kiss him. "Want to come in?" Percy's embarrassed smile turned into a more mischievous one. "To study only," I clarified.

"Sure," Percy smirked.

I led Percy to my room, ignoring when my dad yelled out to keep the door open, and promptly shut the door. "Are you sure your dad is not going to come upstairs?"

"Why? Are you scared?" I teased him.

"No," Percy replied but kept on looking at the door as if he could swing it open with his mind.

"Besides, if he does open it, my dad will find us studying, right?"

"Right," he replied drily.

We ended up kissing for some solid ten minutes, before we decided to finally start studying. We were both sitting on top of my bed, but on opposite sides when my dad opened my bedroom door. "Open," he warned and then disappeared downstairs.

"Hey, can I borrow your laptop?" I said yes and passed it over to him. I kept on reading the biology book trying to figure out what I had done wrong and how to correct. We were going to go over the topic again, but this time I wanted to be prepared.

I was just finishing the section of pollen when I realized Percy was still deep in thought. I crawled to where he was lying and peeked over his shoulder to look at the screen. "You're going to retake the SAT's?"

"Yep," he replied.

"I thought you got a really good score." If my memory served me well, he had gotten a 1500 something. 1560? No, that was my score and I'm pretty sure I was the highest score.

"1520, but I want to get at least a 1540," Percy finished his registration and turned to me leaving the laptop abandoned. He shifted his body, so I was the one on top.

"I read your essay; it's extremely well written. You got your mom's knack for writing and with your grades, you are guaranteed to get admitted at any university."

"Thanks for that," Percy said slowly reaching to caress my cheek. "But Stanford only accepts about 5% of all applicants."

His words were like a bucket of ice. "Stanford, wow. You wanna go to Stanford."

"Yeah, they have an amazing swimming team and I've been in touch with the scouting team since last year."

Swimming, I had forgotten about that. Athletes always had a better shot of getting into college than people who were only smart. "That's great," I tried faking as much enthusiasm as I could. "But you wouldn't be like completely destroyed if they didn't accept you, right?"

 _Please say no, please say no._ "It would fucking suck," Percy admitted after pondering for a while.

"But?" I prompted.

Percy exhaled, "I would be fine. There are other equally amazing schools like I don't know, Harvard."

"My dad graduated from Harvard." My dad had never really pushed me into applying to his Alma Mater. I knew he wanted me to at least apply, which I did. The application was the same for all the universities, so I just added Harvard to my list.

"What about you?" Percy changed the topic. "What's your dream school?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't possibly tell him that I wanted to attend the same university. I bet he had done his research and knew of the new rule, only Valedictorians are accepted. I shouldn't tell him, I shouldn't tell him, I did, "Stanford."

I stood still; I didn't want to make any movements. "Oh?" he finally said. "Well I'm sure you will definitely get in. How can they not accept you?"

"If my rank is anything below first," I scathingly remarked.

Percy simply replied, "Well the year is not over yet."

* * *

The next day at school I felt lighter than I had in days. I hadn't realized how heavily the plan was weighing me down. The talk with Percy also helped. He now knew, I wanted that number one spot and Stanford, just like him.

I was also able to concentrate better in class, that would be if Percy was not intent on distracting me. "How did you even managed to change seats this late in the semester?"

"Teacher's pet." We both turned to where Mr. Blofis was busy typing.

I rolled my eyes, "So what are we doing tonight?"

Percy scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "Hang out?"

"You forgot," I can't believe he forgot. I could see him trying to figure out exactly what he had forgotten, but didn't reach a conclusion. "It's our one-month anniversary. I didn't expect you to take me to the beach or anything, but at least something."

"I know, I know, I'm really sorry. I'll make it up to you," he insistent. "A fancy dinner date."

"It doesn't _have_ to be a fancy date; I wouldn't mind just hanging out."

"Fancy," Percy repeated.

"Okay, okay," I said in surrender.

The rest of the day went without a hitch, and since it was Tuesday, there was little to no homework. That gave me the opportunity to have more time to get ready for my date. I wonder where planned on going, but of course everything started going south.

"You promised," I complained to my frightened-looking boyfriend.

"I know, but the coach wanted me to stay longer." I had a sudden sense of deja-vu. Wasn't this a fight we already had?

"Percy…" I trailed off.

"I'm sorry I can't take you to dinner, but I'll make it up to you."

"How?" I asked curtly.

"I'll go to your house tonight around nine, I'll bring pizza with extra olives, and we can watch as many architecture documentaries as you want," Percy pleaded with those big, green eyes. I couldn't stay mad.

"Ok," I relented.

"Thank you," Percy smiled at me then leaned down to give me a quick kiss. He left soon after, I watched him from afar all the way until he made his way inside the gym. Well there went any romantic plans.

I made my way to the cafeteria where I knew Piper and the celibacy club where at. I made my way inside and what awaited was an organized chaos. There were posters all over the place, glitter thrown across the tables, and loose paper all over.

"Glad you could make," Greeted Silena. Silena was the captain when I was a cheerleader way back in middle school. She was also the captain now. She was incredibly gorgeous with long black hair and large brown eyes; Silena was also incredibly nice.

"What do I need to do, captain?" I asked.

"Do you know how to do paper snowflakes?" I nodded. "Ok, go to the that table, start cutting some and decorating them, please."

I made my way to the table where some of my old squad members and Hazel were at. I was kind of nervous because I didn't actually keep contact with any of them. It seemed like I had nothing to worry about. The girls started talking to me just like old times and it feld sort of _nice_.

"Hey," I turned to find Silena next to me, "Wanna go get some fro-yo?"

"Isn't that like a cheerleader kind of thing?" I asked. It had been back in the day, but things change.

"Nope," Silena answered. "Piper and Hazel are also going."

"Sure, sounds like fun."

We quickly cleaned the cafeteria, neatly organizing the decor we had made into boxes. I could see some of the boy trying to sweep the glitter and failing somehow had gotten blue glitter all over his hair and Piper was trying to get all of it out. "Give me a ride?"

"Of course, Anna Banana." I wrinkled my nose in disgust, but decided not to argue.

"Later babe," Piper said to Jason. Then we made our way to the car. Piper was silent until we were inside her car. "I take it there was no anniversary celebration?"

I didn't want to talk about it. "There's going to be one later today."

"I see," was her mysterious reply.

I'm not really a fan of frozen yogurt; I thought it was basically wannabe ice cream. The cheer team was apparently all for it. We got down and I noticed only about a group of ten girls had decided to come.

I walked inside the place in a daze. My heart started beating frantically, yet I didn't know why. I tried to shake off the feeling and instead concentrated on the menu. "Holy shit," Silena whispered behind me. The feeling of dread grabbed me once again.

 _Don't turn._

 _Don't turn._

I turned.

I was hit on the voice by the ghost of the past. Sitting close together were Percy and Rachel, probably whispering secrets to one another. _Again?_ I thought. The clothes were different, they were older, but it was just like that day back in eighth grade.

On autopilot, I bolted out the door, but not before Percy noticing me. He ran outside and managed to catch up to me. "Wait," he said, "let me explain."

"Explain what?" I screeched. "What is it, Percy? Is being around me too much? You needed time to be away from me?" All the anger and all of the resentment I've been feeling all that stumbled out of me. How dare he?

"It's nothing like that!" Percy argued.

"Please, do you think I'm stupid? You canceled our date to go eat fucking frozen yogurt with R.E.D?" We were making a scene. Everyone was either staring from inside or a few feet away. I caught Piper's eye and gestured towards her car.

"It was important."

"What was so important?" I challenged him. Percy glanced inside the place where Rachel was staring at us, then stayed quiet. "That's what I thought." I started making my way to Piper's car but Percy took my hand and spunned me around.

"I'm asking you to trust me, just like I trusted you with Luke."

"I haven't kissed Luke!" I argued. "I didn't date him for four years."

Percy knew it was pointless to argue with me. I never lose an argument and I wasn't going to start now. No matter how much I fought, the determined expression never wavered. "Goodbye, Percy," I yanked my arm out of his grasp and went inside the car.

"At least now you know your plan would work," Piper said.

"Huh?"

"No matter how shitty you acted, he wouldn't dump you," Piper paused, "Percy really does love you."

I didn't want to think about it, but it was true. For the first few weeks, I was waiting for Percy to like me enough. Enough for me to sabotage his grades and play with his head. Four years ago, Percy didn't run after me. Four years ago, he didn't apologize. Now he did.

At the same time I felt drained;all I wanted to do was go to bed and forget all that had occurred. I did just that once I arrived home. I changed into shorts and a big shirt and climbed into bed. I wondered if I had finished all my homework. This whole relationship was really screwing up with my grades. Unable to sleep without making sure I had finished all of it, I reached for my backpack. Inside was a drawing Percy had made of Nemo, in a fit of anger I crumbled it and threw in the trash.

It wasn't fair. I was going to give my relationship with Percy a chance. I was going to push away Stanford, my dreams, and this just had to happened. I was jealous, I was hurt, and you know what they say about a woman scorned. I deserved to be Valedictorian; I was going to be the Valedictorian.

I checked over my homework binder to double check I had finished it all. Once satisfied, I put everything away and turned off the lights. I was about to doze off, when I heard a sound. Was someone throwing rocks at my window? I made my way to the window to find Percy standing outside.

Percy stopped throwing rocks when he saw me, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down you hair!"

I scowled. My parents would be extremely angry if they saw him. "Go away, Percy."

"Percy? I'm just the delivery guy." I changed my gaze from Percy to the cardboard box that was laying next to him. I was extremely hungry, maybe I could get him to give me the food and make him go away.

I decided to play along, "Then why didn't you knock the front door?"

Percy smiled sheepishly, "Special instructions?"

I rolled my eyes and closed the window. A few minutes went by in absolute silence then my window crashed open. Percy flew in, falling straight to the ground. He hit the floor so hard, I almost felt bad, almost. I took the pizza from him and sat on my bed.

I turned my eyes towards him and stares at him expectantly. Percy stood shakily stood up. He spread my knees apart to stand between them. "Honestly, Annabeth, nothing happened between us." Percy took in a deep breath, "I'm in lo-"

I cut him off; I wouldn't be able to bear it if he professed his undying love to me. "I forgive you."

Surprise flickered in his eyes, "Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, you climbed a two-story house, Percy. Besides if you said nothing happened, then nothing happened." I didn't truly believe that. But I needed him to be my boyfriend for a while longer.

"Yeah," Percy said, "I just thought it would be way harder."

I arched my eyebrow, "Do you want me to make things harder?"

"No," Percy said. He leaned down to capture my lips in his. "Not necessary."

"Come on," I patted a spot on my bed, "We have a lot of documentaries to watch," Percy groaned into the pillow, but tried to pay as much attention as he could. After the second movie though, he had fallen deeply asleep.

Carefully as not to wake him, I grabbed my phone and texted Piper:

 _Let the plan begin._

* * *

 **A/N: YAAAY; we're almost done. There are only three chapters left. I can't promise to update tomorrow. Maybe next week? I've been getting ready to start college next semester (took a gap semester!), so I'm busy with that. I don't think I've mentioned this before, but ranks aren't that important, ok? Don't go messing with other people's grades. Besides no school has a valedictorians only rule.**

 **Until next time! Also if you have any ideas for future stories, tell me! I have so much inspiration and motivation, but like zero ideas.**

 **Almost forgot, but REVIEW PLEASE!**


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